Skip to content

Placemaking

Category Archives: Physical Design & Walkability

May 7, 2018

Mixed-income, mixed-use, maximum difficulty?

A common frustration of communities who want to support affordable housing development is that the financing tools available to developers can be very all-or-nothing. The biggest source of funding for these developments, Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC), is structured in…
April 24, 2018

Developer matchmaking projects moving forward

A year ago, the city of Ypsilanti released a developer request for qualifications for a city-owned parcel--this was the first of four properties around the state that the League's Civic Innovation Labs team supported as part of a MSHDA-funded effort to…
April 2, 2018

Congratulations to Muskegon, 2018’s Strongest Town!

Muskegon has been named this year's Strongest Town, beating Kent, Ohio, in the final round of voting, and joining the 2017 champion, Traverse City, at the top of this international contest.  (Holland made the final four in the inaugural contest…
May 26, 2017

Strong Towns Event in Traverse City June 7

This spring, in a proud moment for the whole state of Michigan, Traverse City won the March Madness-style tournament to be crowned the Strongest Town in North America. As part of their reward, Chuck Marohn of Strong Towns will be…
February 24, 2017

Instant town square: just add picnic tables

Milan's downtown Tolan Square is a great example of tactical placemaking. Two summers ago, the city turned a piece of this street into a plaza with nothing more than a few heavy planters at each end and some picnic tables.…
December 19, 2016

Vancouver Revisited

I first visited Vancouver for a few days of vacation in 2012.  It is a place that I've always known that I would return to. That opportunity arose when I was asked to attend the Placemaking Leadership Forum conference in…
November 11, 2016

Creating Vassar’s Vision

Creating Vassar's Vision from Michigan Municipal League on Vimeo. Vassar is a unique place. The small city, with a population less than 2,700 people, had six new businesses open in just over a year. The one-block downtown now offers a…
November 3, 2016

How Road Diets Drive Development

This graphic from NACTO's Urban Street Design Guide shows how road diets can improve safety and traffic flow. Many a traditional main street has suffered from bloated roads: where a street was once lined with bustling sidewalks and businesses, the…
October 13, 2016

Better places need better rules–how do we get there?

We know that traditional zoning and development codes, as applied by nearly every one of our hundreds of members across Michigan, can be harmful to building strong, prosperous communities. We have major statewide initiatives to support locals in wrestling their…
June 15, 2016

Planning for the Future in Calumet and Baraga

Calumet residents, supporters and business leaders participate in a successful visioning session in the village Monday. Two Upper Michigan communities are in the early planning stages of potential revitalization. The Villages of Calumet and Baraga are each having public meetings…
Contact
[email protected]
734.662.3246
Locations
Headquarters
1675 Green Road,
Ann Arbor MI 48105
 
Capitol Office
208 N. Capitol Ave.,
1st Floor Lansing, MI 48933
©2022 Michigan Municipal League LLC. All rights reserved